Italian · Behind the Wheel
Ma smettila di strombazzare!
mah ZMET-tee-lah dee strom-baht-TSAH-ray · /ma ˈzmet.ti.la di strom.batˈtsa.re/
Quit leaning on your horn!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"Stop trumpeting (the horn)!"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Italian traffic runs on the clacson (horn), and "strombazzare" — to blare it like a trumpet — is the verb for the guy behind you who started honking before the light finished changing. Clean and vivid. The horn is punctuation here, not just a warning; expect it.
Heard in the wild
Il semaforo è appena diventato verde, smettila di strombazzare!
The light literally just turned green, stop honking!
Where it lands
Universal across Italy
Quick answers
- What does "Ma smettila di strombazzare!" mean?
- In Italian, "Ma smettila di strombazzare!" means "Quit leaning on your horn!". Literally it's "Stop trumpeting (the horn)!". Italian traffic runs on the clacson (horn), and "strombazzare" — to blare it like a trumpet — is the verb for the guy behind you who started honking before the light finished changing. Clean and vivid. The horn is punctuation here, not just a warning; expect it.
- Is "Ma smettila di strombazzare!" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
- How do you pronounce "Ma smettila di strombazzare!"?
- Say it "mah ZMET-tee-lah dee strom-baht-TSAH-ray" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ma ˈzmet.ti.la di strom.batˈtsa.re.
Related in Italian
Ma dove vai?! mah DOH-vay VYE Where the hell do you think you're going?! Leva 'sto culo! LEH-vah sto KOO-lo Move your ass! / Get out of the way! L'hai presa alla lotteria la patente?! lye PRAY-zah AHL-lah lot-teh-REE-ah lah pah-TEN-tay Where'd you get your license, a cereal box?! Metti la freccia! MET-tee lah FRET-chah Use your blinker! Ma vai a piedi! mah VYE ah PYEH-dee You should be walking, not driving! Pirla! PEER-lah Idiot / dumbass (Milanese)
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Road rage".
- French Quelle galère ! What a hassle / What an ordeal
- Greek κόλλησα στην κίνηση I'm stuck in traffic — the eternal Athens lament.
- Polish niedzielny kierowca Sunday driver — the road-rage taxonomy's gentlest species.
- Portuguese Que saco! What a drag! / So annoying! / Ugh!
- Russian Твою мать! Damn it! / Son of a bitch! / For crying out loud!
- Spanish Estar hasta la madre To be fed up / sick and tired — or packed full
- Portuguese Que inferno! What a nightmare! / For crying out loud!
- Spanish Un chingo A ton / a whole lot
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.